Close Door, Open Window
by LunaLovegood'sNargles
Summary: After living a long life, Harry dies of old age. He closes his eyes for the last time, only to open them again moments later. He's back at Hogwarts but way before he was born. This is a different take on the 'Harry goes back in time and falls in love with Tom Riddle' cliche. Harry/Tom Strong!Harry Dark!Harry
1. The End, The Start

Close Door, Open Window

A/N: This is an un-beta'ed draft of the first chapter, I wanted to get it out to you guys to see what you think and how you like it, if you like it I'll keep going, if not, I probably won't. If there are spelling or grammar error you can review and tell me and I might fix them, I might not depending on how lazy I'm feeling. I know this is a lot like other fics but I'm trying to make it original. I like a strong Harry which is what I'm going to try and portray in this story, so if you don't like that this fic might not be for you. Don't worry, it won't be godlike!Harry controls the universe or anything, but it won't be Harry unable to finish a sentence or fight for himself either, my Harry is an independent Harry. Enjoy!

Chapter one: The End, The Beginning

Harry followed Headmaster Dippet and Professor Dumbledore into the Great Hall, finally enjoying the feeling of being back inside Hogwarts, before this he had had to concentrate on keeping his new appearance up but now he could revel in the feeling of home that always surrounded him when inside Hogwarts hallowed halls.

Harry was abruptly brought back to earth when Dumbledore pointed him in the direction of his new house table. "Good luck, my boy." The Professor said without so much as a twinkle in his eyes.

Harry thanked him and made his way over to his table, this was going to be fun.

Tom Riddle sat at the Slytherin table, reveling in the fact that he was once again away from the horrible orphanage and back here at Hogwarts with his loyal follow-friends. This year was his fifth and he would be taking the OWL's at the end of the year. He was sure that, just as every other year, he would be the best in his year.

Tom had many plans for this year,he quickly ran through them in his head: recruit more f-friends from other houses, get the best OWL's in his year (if not ever), become the head of Slytherin (although he was only in his fifth year he had slowly been making his way up the Slytherin hierarchy, the top consisted of the most powerful and cunning Seventh years, followed by sixth years and so on, Tom was in the top five, because he was so powerful and he was a Parselmouth, but he wanted to be number one), and finally, find the fabled Chamber of Secrets.

Just as Tom had started to deconstruct and analyze his plans more thoroughly he was brought out of his thoughts by a boy he had never seen before, sit right across the table from him, a spot that was normally kept empty so that Tom could call over anyone to sit in front of him if he chose to.

Tom quickly analyzed the new kid, he indeed had Slytherin robes on, which again begged the question why Tom had never seen him before. He was clearly not a first year as he was quite mature looking, his age could range anywhere from fifth year to seventh year. He was about average height for a seventh year, but the fact that he came over to sit by the fifth years brought this observation into question. He was quite handsome, perhaps even more so than Tom. This bothered Tom more than he would have liked, he quite prided himself on his good looks, they could get him almost anything.

The new boy had black hair that was about chin length, it was messy but in an endearing way. His eyes were a violent green color that almost made Tom do a double take. At this point he had never actually seen an Avada Kadavra in person, but those eyes were the color he had always imagined it would be.

His skin was tanned in a way that made Tom think he couldn't possible be From England, Ireland, or Scotland. His eyelashes were long and dark, framing his eyes perfectly. His bone structure was one hundred percent pureblooded. Definitely an heir of a pure-blooded house.

All these observation took less than a second for Tom to analyze. By the time the boy had fully seated himself, Tom held out his hand to shake. If this was truly an heir to an important house, Tom wanted to make a good impression, perhaps he could sway him to become a f-, oh screw it, follower of his.

Before he could so much as introduce himself though, the Headmaster spoke and everyone's attention was diverted to him, including the Tom's new interest.

"As I'm sure some of you have already noticed, we have a somewhat rare occurrence this year, a transfer student! Evan Black is a fifth year this year and has transferred here, having been homeschooled before this. He was sorted in my office just minutes ago and was put in Slytherin house. I'm sure you will all be as welcoming to him as you are to all the other new students this year, now on with the sorting!"

And so the sorting began. Tom took another look at this Evan Black. A fifth year, somewhat surprising as he looks as though he could be a seventh year. A Black. Interesting, he didn't have to gray eyes that the Black family was so well known for, although he did harbor some of their other features.

Tom quickly stuck his hand out again to introduce himself. "Hello, I am Tom Riddle, fifth year Slytherin, and Prefect. I would be happy to show you around the school tomorrow, if you would like." Perhaps Tom could find out more about this new student while he was showing him around.

Evan's eyes moved from Tom's outstretched hand to his eyes, searching, before smirking slightly and taking Tom's hand in his. "Lovely to meet you, Riddle, my name is Evan James, although you already know that, I suppose. I think on your offer of showing me around, I might want to wander the school myself, I'm not sure yet, thank you." His handshake was firm, but not overpowering, his response respectful without being submissive, his use of Tom's last name correct etiquette for a pureblood. Everything was perfect, but also clearly second nature to him, not planned or thought out, just known so well he didn't have to think about it.

Before Tom could respond in kind an unwelcome voice butted into their conversation. "So Black, you were homeschooled before, what made you decide to come here?" Insensitive and idiotic question to ask a complete stranger, no cunning what so ever, very unslytherin. Tom what have to have a talk with Avery.

Evan's eyes quickly flashed to Avery's giving nothing away, before saying, "My parents were murdered, I couldn't exactly be homeschooled by them, could I?" No hint of a lie, obvious sadness in his eyes, mourning. Tom's eyes moved to Avery's narrowing, promising retribution. Avery closed his mouth quickly from whatever idiotic thing he was sure to say next.

"I apologize for my friends abysmal behavior, let me introduce everyone. That dunderhead over there is Avery, he won't be speaking for the rest of the night, then their is Lestrange, Rosier, Nott, Dolohov, and Orion and Walburga Black, whom I'm sure you know."

Evan nodded greetings at all of those named, but stopped at Orion and Walburga. "I'm sorry to say that we have never actually met. I believe we are third cousins once removed or some rubbish like that, charming to meet you both." Orion and Walburga simply nodded at him with slightly narrowed eyes as though not sure if they could trust him or not.

"So please, tell us about your self, Black, we are to be year mates for the next three years after all." Tom was itching to know more about this new students who clearly belonged in Slytherin, even though Tom had only known him for minutes.

"Well, there isn't much to know. I am an only child, I enjoy Quidditch and was hoping I could try out for the team this year. My favorite subject is dueling, although I hear you don't teach that here." Evan finished with a sigh.

"No we don't, too bad really, but we do have a dueling club taught by our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor." Tom stated. At this news, Evan perked up and even managed a small smile, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh, wonderful! I can't wait for that to start." Before either of them could say anything else they sorting had ended and the Headmaster made his way up to the podium again to make his customary start of the year speech.

No one listened.

"Yes, we've heard some very good things about it, although only fifth years and up are allowed to join so we haven't been a part of it yet. Should be grand though." This was Lestrange, he hadn't said a word to the new Black yet, simply waiting and watching him converse with Tom.

"Pity, well I'm glad I started this year then, it would have been very annoying to be here with a dueling club and unable to participate." The food suddenly appeared in front of them, the table groaning in protest of the huge feast it held.

No more was said for quite a while as everyone, including all the other houses and the teachers, were all very hungry. By the time they all finished they simply sang the School song (It seemed to become more horrible every year) and go off to bed.

Tom, as a Prefect, lead the first years to the Slytherin dorms in the dungeon. The password was 'Potestatem' Latin for power. Once they were all inside the common room Tom told the new students to wait there for their head of house to give them a small speech, before leading the rest of his year to their dorms.

They were all changed and in there bed before Evan even came to the dorms after listening to the speech by Slughorn. It has been the same speech for years. The Head of House tells them to live up to their house expectations, work hard, stick together, blah blah blah. Just before Tom closed his curtains he say Evan, on the bed across from him sitting on his bed with his eyes closed a sad, half smile on his face.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review and tell me if I should keep going, this is going to be a Harry/Tom fic, but I will take any suggestions you guys have for how you want it to go, I have a vague plan, nothing concrete. Thanks!


	2. The Old, The New

A/N: Alright, I'm glad that you guys like the story so far, I hope you keep reading and reviewing, Enjoy!

Close Door, Open Window

Ch. 2 The New, The Old

Tom woke up the next morning, excited to start the day, his first day back at Hogwarts, the only thing that could make it better was analyzing his new puzzle a little more. This new Black fascinated Tom, so much so that Tom wondered if he was perhaps making Evan into something more than he was, so that he had something of interest to think about this year. He was already almost done with the fifth year curriculum and would soon start going over it silently, and then wandlessly.

He needed something unrelated to school to interest him. All of his followers were boring, too easy, too predictable. Evan was something new, and Tom almost hoped he wouldn't be as easy to sway to his side, at least then he would have something to think about after all of his school work was done.

In all of his pondering, Tom had yet to notice that the new bed across from his was empty of his dark haired mystery.

Where had he gone, Tom wondered? Perhaps he was simply an early riser, although very few woke up earlier than Tom himself. It was still two hours before breakfast, but Tom was still on Orphanage time, and there you weren't aloud to sleep later than six. Additionally, Tom noticed that his bed looked completely untouched, as though he had not slept in it at all last night. He knew for a fact that the House Elves made their beds and cleaned the dorms while they were in class so as not to disturb them.

Tom decided his obsession with the new student was perhaps a bit too intense for the early hours of the morning and decided to make his way to the bathroom to shower. That was another reason why he woke up so early. He refused to let anyone see his scars, they were weaknesses that he could not let anyone know about. The dorm bathrooms were set up so anyone who took a shower at the same time as him would be able to see all of him.

After a long hot shower (Tom hadn't had a hot shower since he left Hogwarts the previous year) he quickly dressed and made his way down to the common room. No one seemed to be up besides him, but just his luck, just as he was about to sit down next to the fireplace, he heard the door open and turned to see none other than Evan Black casually walking into the common room.

Tom stood up and caught Evan's attention. He didn't look surprised in the least, let alone afraid of being caught. He smiled politely at Tom and greeted him. "Good morning Riddle, it is a lovely day isn't it?"

Tom tried hard not to stare at Evan too long but he couldn't help himself from analyzing him a bit. His cheeks were flushed and his hair more mussed than last night, as though he had just been running but his breathing was normal, no panting, he seemed very calm, his voice even. It didn't add up. Tom didn't like when things didn't add up.

He quickly realized he had yet to respond and did so quickly. "It is indeed, I do so enjoy being back at the School." He was wearing his school robes but looked clean and wrinkle free, his vibrant green eyes were bright with excitement, no dark circles hinting at a lack of sleep, if anything he looked more healthy than he had yesterday night.

"I can understand why. This castle is amazing, I can't wait to see more of it. And lessons! I love learning knew ways to do magic. When did you say dueling club starts?" At the very mention of dueling club his face brightened even more showing his very sincere excitement for the idea.

"I didn't, it should start next week, to let everyone get accustomed to being back. Professor Merrythought, our Defense teacher will most likely tell us about it in our first class. And we will get our schedules today at breakfast." Tom realized he hadn't yet asked where the new Slytherin had been before he came here. "Where were you anyway?" Tom asked casually, as though he had only just thought about it.

Evan's eyes seemed to shine with amusement but with the blink of an eye it was gone and Tom thought he could have imagined it.

"I was just walking the halls, woke up earlier and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided a nice walk would be good. It was very enlightening, there are so many places to see, this castle is enormous, it makes me wonder if anyone has truly seen all of it." Tom had to stop himself from smirking, he may not have seen all of it, but he believed he had seen more of it than anyone else ever had.

"It's true, the castle is quite large, it seems like ever time I wander around I find a new room I had never seen before."

Before anymore could be said other people started wandering into the common room slowly, sleep still in their eyes. It was time for breakfast. "Let me walk you to the Great Hall, I wouldn't want you to miss breakfast your first day here." And maybe he could get more information on the seemingly illusive new mystery.

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that." Evan nodded at Tom in thanks and they made their way out of the common room and to breakfast.

"So tell me a little more about yourself, you were interrupted yesterday at the feast." Tom stated, hoping he wasn't pushing too much but believing it would be fine either way.

"Well like I said before, there really isn't much to tell. I'm an orphan, I enjoy flying, I love learning in general but my favorite is Dueling, I enjoy long walks on the beach and walking in the rain…" He trailed off with a smirk on his face.

Tom looked up at him in surprise, a joke, interesting. Tom could, of course, see the humor in the situation. They were walking side by side on their way to eat a meal together and he had asked him to talk about himself, still he was surprised at how comfortable the boy seemed around him, no one was comfortable around him, not even his own followers.

Tom let our a small chuckle, it wasn't the worst joke he had ever heard. "Of course, I myself enjoy classical music and salsa dancing."

In a very unexpected reaction Evan through back his head and laughed loudly. Tom smirked up at him, a questioning look in his eyes. "I apologize, just the idea of you salsa dancing got to me." Was all the explanation Tom received before they reached the Great Hall.

They walked to the Slytherin table and Tom took his customary seat in the very middle of the table, Evan yet again sat across from him. He served himself some eggs and toast before Evan spoke to him again. "In all seriousness, tell me about yourself, it seems unfair that you already know so much about me, but I so little about you, Mr. Riddle."

Tom refrained from commenting that he truly knew nothing about the new student, instead thinking on how to answer. "Well I enjoy few things more than reading and learning new things about the magical world, and magic in general. I don't play quidditch, my favorite class is Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am also an Orphan, but for much longer than you, or so I'm told."

Evan looked at him for a long moment, vibrant green meeting brown, he looked a bit sad. "I'm sorry, no one should have to grow up without parents." Was all he said before going back to his breakfast.

Tom sat there for a few minutes, thinking on this new enigma of his. He knew next to nothing about the boy in front of him but he was already hooked, he only hoped that he wasn't disappointed in the end.

Slughorn walked down the table, handing out schedules and chatting with new and old students alike, he was sure to start up his Slug Club again any day, he liked to start it early in the year.

"Tom, my boy, how are you doing, I do hope your holiday was pleasant-" It wasn't, but he would never let anyone know that. "-You'll be receiving an invitation at some point to day for a club meeting next week, I do hope you can come!" Slughorn was much too excitable but Tom was finally no longer his main point of interest, he was handed his schedule and the Head of House turned his sights on the new fifth year. "Evan Black! A joy to meet you, are you related to the other Blacks of your year, by any chance." A stupid question, anyone who had two working eyes could see that Evan had the features of an aristocrat and the hair of a Black, only missing out on their customary gray eyes.

"In some obscure way or another we are related, yes, although I believe I'm probably related to most of the purebloods and even half bloods in some distant way." Evan responded demurely. It was a very political answer, one that gave nothing away, for all they new, he was as much related to Orion and Walburga Black as he was to the Charles Potter!

"Of course, of course, just as all purebloods are these days, I suppose. Well, you'll be in my double potions class today, see you then lads!" Finally, the walrus had left. It was only the first day of term and Tom was already sick of him, not that he would ever let Slughorn know that's how he felt. No, Slughorn was a fantastic way to get connections. His 'Slug Club' had so many famous people a part of it, it was an inside joke. Almost as though if you weren't part of the Slug Club at Hogwarts, you weren't really important. Of course, they didn't really believe it.

Their first class of the day was Charms with the Hufflepuffs. Although Tom would never understand the Hufflepuffs, he would never look down on them like the other Slytherins tended to do. They were hard workers, that's their well known trait, hard work and ambition went well together so Tom could respect the Hufflepuffs, even if he could never understand their ability to be loyal. Sure, he wanted loyalty from his followers but he could never imagine being loyal himself, it took too much trust in someone to be loyal to that person and Tom didn't trust anyone but himself.

Charms was interesting, mostly because he was able to observe Evan as he worked on the charm, or rather watch him do the charm perfectly on his first try. Even Tom took three tries to get it done perfectly, he of course could have done it in one but it hadn't been exactly right so he redid it.

Professor Burns came up to Evan's and seeing his teacup with perfect legs that it was currently doing the cha cha with, gave him ten points to Slytherin and told him he needn't do the essay as he "clearly already understood both the practical and theoretical parts of this charm" and moved him onto the next one, silencing.

Tom had not been exempt from the essay this time, as he still couldn't do it exactly perfect the first time, he didn't mind too much though, the essay would help him on his theory so that he could get it perfect every time.

Their next class was double Potions with the Gryffindors, it could have been the best class, at least for the Slytherins considering their head of house taught it, and favorited the, if only a little. But it had to be with the Gryffindors every year.

For all he tried, Tom had never been able to understand Gryffindors. He couldn't understand Hufflepuffs with their hard work, Ravenclaws with their love of knowledge, (he had always known that if he hadn't been a so much of a Slytherin he'd have been a Ravenclaw)but he never understood Gryffindors. They acted first, thought later, they were too brave for their own good, and acted far too holier than thou.

Tom lead Evan to the Potions class in the Dungeons, only a hall away from their common room. He was followed, as always, by his followers (no pun intended). The doors to the class were already open so he made his way to his regular seat at the front of the class, all the time leading Evan to sit next to him. They would be lab partners. Just before they sat down they were interceded by so called 'King of Gryffindor' Charles Potter. Looking at him now, standing next to Evan, they did look stunningly alike.

"Riddle, charming as always to see you, I see you've recruited yet another little mindless snake to follow you around, that must be a new record, took you less than a day." Tom narrowed his eyes at Potter, if he made Evan uncomfortable and stopped him from joining his group, there would be hell to pay.

Before either Tom or Charles could say anything else though, Evan spoke up. "Although I do love being referred to as a 'mindless snake, the names Evan Black, and it is so charming to meet you, Mr…?" He let his sentence trail off, making it clear he was unimpressed with Potters introduction, or rather, lack of.

Potters cheeks became just the barest bit pink on the tips, but to Tom, that was a huge accomplishment, he wanted to applaud Evan for managing it. "Potter, Charles Potter." Something about that introduction seemed funny to Evan but before either of them could comment on his amusement he held out his hand to shake.

"Settle down, everyone, settle down." Slughorn walked into the room from his office. "Alright Mr. Black, the new Mr. Black, may I quickly inquire as to how far into your potions education you are?" Slughorn asked. This seemed to confuse the class, wouldn't they ask that before school started? Shouldn't they know that by now?

Evan didn't seem perturbed by the question at all "Of course sir, what would you like to know?"

Slughorn didn't take much time to think up a question "What is the most advanced potion that you have been taught to make?"

Evan thought for a few moments "Well, that depends on what you think of as advanced. I've made Polyjuice multiple times and that mostly just takes a lot of time and patience-" There was a murmur of surprise all across the classroom and Slughorn look very taken aback but before any of them could say anything he continued "Then of course, I've made Felix Felicis, that just takes more skill because it contains quite a few hard steps...Oh, I know! I've made  
Veritaserum, that is most definitely the most advanced potion I've been taught." Tom noticed that he put slight emphasis on 'been taught' as though you may have made other potions that were more advanced without being taught how to make them. Interesting.

"What are you doing in this class, my boy? You should at the very least be in the seventh year potions class, if not perhaps studying personally with me...you could work towards your mastery, be the youngest in decades, even centuries…" Slughorn trailed off in thought.

Evan looked a bit uncomfortable although trying not too. It took a moment but he finally spoke up "Actually Sir, I'm planning on testing for my Mastery during the Christmas Holiday. I've worked towards it for a while and I believe I'm ready. Though if you'd like to test me for it, I'd be honored, Sir." Respectful, eye contact, not smug.

"That's marvelous! Will you stay after class today?" After receiving Evan's nod of consent he continued on with the lesson. They were discussing the theory behind the Calming Drought. It was exceedingly boring for Tom so instead of learning something that he already knew he watched Evan.

He was just becoming more and more fascinating. A potions mastery in fifth year. How is that even possible. Tom hadn't even heard of anyone getting their mastery younger than eighteen.

They ended class early because Slughorn was in a very good mood. Tom was going to wait for Evan outside but Evan waved him away and told him he could find his way back to the common room, they were, after all in the dungeons anyway.

Tom headed to the common room with the rest of his house. There was a free period before lunch and then they had herbology.

Tom and his followers took their usual spots in the common room, as they had since their first year. They sat in the middle of the common room, in a show of dominance of course, but with a silencing charm around them, so their conversations couldn't be overheard.

"So tell me, what does everyone think of this new Evan Black?" Tom asked his followers, looking around at all of them. They sat in a circle, Tom sat with Lestrange on his right side and Knott on his left. Tom had yet to punish Avery for his idiocy yesterday at the feast. He would have to think on that.

The first to talk was Avery, as always. He truly needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut, Tom would be happy to teach him. "I don't like him. We don't know anything about him, this other Black, just pops out of nowhere. Claiming he's been home schooled his entire life, but somehow he wants to get his Potions mastery this year? It just doesn't add up."

A few of the others started nodding as though they believed he had a point but when they looked at Tom the immediately stopped. He said nothing about Avery's statement "Anyone else?"

"I think he seems like a pretty great guy. Very hard working, intelligent, honest, VERY good looking." A joking voice stated from behind Tom's chair.

Tom turned around to see Evan standing there smirking, eyes bright in amusement. "You can here us right now?" Tom asked, confused, the silencing charm around their chairs should have stopped anyone from hearing anything said outside the perimeter of their chairs.

"Should I not be able to?" Evan asked, confused. For just a moment Tom thought he saw a flash of concern on Evan's face, but then it was gone. He grabbed his wand from the holster on his forearm and flared out his magic slightly to feel for the silencing charm, it had disappeared. Tom had put it up himself and knew for a fact that it should have still been there. He looked back over at Evan, interesting.

A/N: Not a great ending but I didn't know what else to do with it and I wanted to get the second chapter out ASAP so you could get a better feel for the story. If you like the POV right now, great, I always like it when we get a different POV then Harry. If you want some Harry POV, just tell me! Please review.


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